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VisionFund CEO appointed as new Co-Chair of MCWG

The Microfinance
CEO Working Group is pleased to announce their new Co-Chair, Scott Brown,
President and CEO of VisionFund International. Brown is a founding member of
the Working Group and joins current Co-Chair Lauren Hendricks, Executive
Director of CARE’s Access Africa program. The two will lead the Working Group’s
continued efforts to promote the full financial inclusion of more than 2
billion people around the world without access to formal financial services.

Scott Brown was
among an informal group of leaders who first came together in 2011 to discuss
the state of the microfinance sector. Today, the Microfinance CEO Working Group
is a collaborative effort by ten international organizations to reach the most financially
underserved communities, including low-income women, the rural poor, and those
living at the very bottom of the economic pyramid. The Working Group member
organizations collectively reach 71 million active clients via 251 microfinance
institutions in 73 countries, and nearly 6 million clients via savings groups
in 49 countries around the world. Together, the ten member organizations
committed to opening a total of 70 million new accounts around the world by
2020.

“I welcome a
partnership with Scott to lead the Microfinance CEO Working Group as the
financial inclusion industry advances in the promising age of digital financial
services,” said Lauren Hendricks. “We have a duty as microfinance leaders to ensure
that financial services continue to reach the most underserved communities and vulnerable
clients are included in that evolution.”

Brown joined
VisionFund in 2006 after nearly two decades in the banking sector, including
serving as vice president at the Royal Bank of Canada. For over ten years,
VisionFund has been improving the lives of children in the developing world by
offering small loans and other financial services to families living in
poverty. The organization’s clients are able to develop successful businesses
which enable them to ensure their children grow up healthy and educated. Working
on behalf of World Vision in nearly 35 countries, VisionFund’s microfinance
institutions are found across the globe in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the
Middle East and Eastern Europe.

“As the networks
that comprise our Working Group continue to provide essential services such as
loans, savings, insurance and remittances we are also rigorously pursuing ways
to use technology to reach more clients with better financial services,” said Scott
Brown. “I look forward to leading our continued collaboration with researchers,
practitioners and policymakers to support and develop these new services that
give poor people the opportunity to plan for their future.”

Hendricks and
Brown are joined by fellow Microfinance CEO Working Group members: Shameran
Abed, Director of BRAC’s microfinance program; Michael Schlein, President and
CEO of Accion; Rupert Scofield, President of FINCA International; Kathleen
Stack, Interim President of Freedom from Hunger; Steve Hollingworth, President
and CEO of Grameen Foundation; David Simms, Global Chief Development Officer and
President, Opportunity International, U.S.; Maria Cavalcanti, President and CEO
of Pro Mujer; and Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World
Banking.

The Microfinance
CEO Working Group is a collaborative effort by leaders from ten international
organizations: Accion, BRAC, CARE, FINCA International, Freedom from Hunger,
Grameen Foundation, Opportunity International, Pro Mujer, VisionFund
International and Women’s World Banking. The Working Group seeks to support the
microfinance industry in bringing a broad range of financial and related
services to those who have traditionally been excluded. The Center for
Financial Inclusion at Accion serves as the secretariat for the Working Group.